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Following a hearing in May-June 2025, Romal Capital has won its High Court claim against Peel for breach of contract. The dispute concerned a major development within the Liverpool Waters regeneration area, which is the subject of England’s largest outline planning permission.

James Thompson, James Frampton and Peter Brogden acted for the Claimant, the Second Defendant and the Third Defendant respectively in a recent application for extension of a stay of proceedings and an extension of time for service of the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim. The case concerned the design and construction of a multi-million-pound city centre library, history and customer centre for the public and the University of Worcester.

CG Fry & Son Ltd has won their Supreme Court Appeal – appropriate assessment of a development’s effect on Ramsar sites is not required at discharge of conditions stage.The Court has unanimously allowed CG Fry’s appeal, reversing the decisions of the courts below which had upheld an Inspector’s decision to dismiss CG Fry’s s.78 planning appeal against Somerset Council’s non-determination of applications to discharge pre-commencement conditions on the reserved matters approval for Phase 3 of their Jurston Farm development. The Council had declined to discharge the conditions on the basis that:An appropriate assessment of the impact of the development on the Somerset Levels Ramsar, as a result of phosphate pollution from waste water, was required and (following advice from Natural England) adverse effects on the integrity of the Ramsar could not be ruled out in the absence of a nutrient neutrality scheme which was not at the time available; andThe effect of Regulation 63 of the Habitats Regulations, as applied to Ramsar sites by the NPPF (paragraph 194 of which says Ramsar sites “should be give the same protection as habitats sites”) was that the conditions could not be…